Search - Stan Levey :: Stan Levey Quintet

Levey swings with fellow genius Kamuca

Schubert aficionado | CA United States | 08/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On this album, one of the great bop drummers in his West Coast phase recruits undersung genius Richie Kamuca (who, like Warne Marsh deserve more attention for their deeper explorations of a sound that begins with Lester Young, who by the way, considered Kamuca tops of the young white tenors)and conte Candoli, who may be best known for creating masterpieces with Shelly Manne at the Manne-hole.

Now, regarding his credentials, which evidently need to be noted.

Stan was recruited by no less than Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Stan Kenton, who hired him upon first sight. In Dizzy's band, he set the standard for bop drumming. Self-taught, Stan was hired by Diz at sixteen, and when Diz was derided for not hiring a black drummer over a Jew, Dizzy said, "If there were a better black drummer, I'd hire him." Later, Stan would influence the new "West Coast sound." So you see, appreciating Levey is not a matter of taste; it's a matter of knowing your jazz.

You may not hear on this album all that Stan was capable of because even as a leader,but it is easily a five star album. Stan sermonizes music before personality, not having the fault of say other geniuses like Elvin Jones or Tony Williams who are very good at beating the crap out of their kit even when it's not called for. Peace."

"Love It or Levey..."

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 07/23/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"An Amazon colleague recently wrote that amusing line in his comment of my review of a Howard Rumsey CD featuring Stan Levey. I guess there are jazz fans out there who are definitely not fans of Levey's, but I think he's a perfectly capable, if not exceptional drummer. What I definitely do like is a solid west coast session from the mid 50s, and this VSOP disc fits the bill. Richie Kamuca on tenor sax, Conte Candoli on trumpet, Lou Levy on piano, and Monty Budwig on bass are all in fine form, with the frontline interplay between Candoli and Kamuca particularly enjoyable. The only thing missing from this, and most VSOP titles, is a few more minutes of music as most of their CDs log in at under 30 minutes. I picked up "Stan Levey Quintet" used for just a few bucks, and if you can find a similar deal go ahead and "love it" -- otherwise, you may want to just "Levey.""